Cats in Art: Naked Women to Cats (Vallotton)

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art. I am using some ideas from the coffee table book, The Cat in Art, by Stefano Zuffi.

This month I am currently featuring 2 more installments of the art of Felix Vallotton--this is 1 of 2.  In Dec 2010 I had previously done a Vallotton image entitled Laziness, featuring (what else?) a naked woman and a cat, which may be found here.

The Vallotton image below also continues that theme:

Image credit WikiPaintings. Naked Women to Cats, Felix Vallotton, 1898, oil on canvas, 41 cm x 52 cm.

Zuffi talks about the rise of the cat in art around 1900:

Part of the credit, at least, must go to the Symbolist movement, which was fascinated by the cat's elusive dual nature, and the possibility of contradictory, mysterious interpretations.  A sinuous, bewitching shape, glittering eyes, and ever-changing positions: during the first quarter of the 20th century, the cat experienced an extraordinary series of representations in painting--perhaps without precedent throughout the history of art until then.

My hat is certainly off to Mssr. Zuffi, who in the paragraph above just nailed it in talking about "...the cat's elusive dual nature...."

Some of my cats, however, seemingly have triple, quadruple, or even more natures.